Earl Grey
by Gohanroxme
Summary: He narrowed his eyes. It was so easy to tell when she was trying to be difficult with him. She met his gaze with a thwarted expression and a little more than reluctantly. "...Nothing, okay, Gray-sama? Juvia wasn't really doing anything!" It was also so easy to tell when she was lying...to him, anyway. "You were . . . trying to read your tealeaves, weren't you?" "U-Um..."


Earl Grey

**Disclaimer: The word "disclaim" should be enough, hey?**

She had been silent for the longest while, and when he finally glimpsed over beside him at her, puzzled, (because she would usually chatter away to him in the mornings) it was only to see her staring raptly into the mug of tea that Mira had served her several ago.

Her jaw was set, blue eyes were completely focused, and he could see the reflection of the reddish brown beverage in them.

He glanced down at his own hot drink before looking back at her. "What're you doing?"

She didn't even seem to acknowledge him, her entire body absolutely still, yet he still witnessed the slight frustration on her brow. He couldn't even see it when she breathed.

And so he prodded gently at her arm, a curious eyebrow cocked. "Hey, Juvia?"

She snapped out of whatever daze she had been in, blinking up at him, and seemingly startled. "Ah . . . Gray-sama? D-Did you . . . want something?"

"Yeah." He scrutinized the bone-white mug in her grip. "I wanted to know just what you were doing."

She lifted the cup to her lips. "Juvia doesn't know what you mean."

He narrowed his eyes. It was so easy to tell when she was trying to be difficult with him.

She met his gaze with a thwarted expression and a little more than reluctantly. " . . . Nothing, okay, Gray-sama? Juvia wasn't really doing _anything_!"

It was also so easy to tell when she was lying . . . _to him_, anyway.

"You were . . . trying to read your tealeaves, weren't you?"

He saw her body stiffen, her fingers tightening over the mug's handle. "U-Um . . . ."

He grinned knowingly; it was so obvious, what with her staring so intently into her drink like that. "Well, what did you see?"

"Nothing, really." She sighed, swirling her tea with stirring stick.

His smile grew wider, and he leaned closer to her from his seat on her stool, reaching for her cup. "That's because you're doing it wrong, Juvia."

His fingers brushed hers as he grabbed her warm cup, and he blinked at her when she flushed. "G-Gray-sama, w-what are you . . . ?"

He watched the beverage that filled the mug only a quarter-way, noticing how the leaves floated about randomly. Of course. No one could figure a thing out while they were drifting around like that. She _was_ doing it wrong.

"You're supposed to wait until _after_ you're done drinking and when most of the tea is gone before you're supposed to read them, silly."

She looked up at him, and it was more of an awestruck gaze than a wary one. "Gray-sama sure does know a lot about this . . . ."

"Yeah." He slid the mug back to her so she could finish it up. "When we were younger, Cana used to show me this baloney all the time . . . kinda got etched into my brain."

She reached for the mug eagerly, gulped the hot drink down faster than he expected, and then slid it back toward him.

He didn't ask how she could take something that boiling in one instant, because it probably had something to do with her water manipulation and the fact that tea was practically . . . flavored water.

"Would you show me how to do it right, t-then, Gray-sama?" Her eyes were lowered as her fingers picked nervously at the splinters of the wooden table.

"Um." He chewed the inside of his cheek contemplatively. He wasn't really fond of that divination stuff . . . it was just a bunch of nonsense, really, that Cana had been into . . . . " . . . You seriously want to?"

"Juvia just wants to try it . . . ."

He shrugged. Fine then. Whatever. "Well, okay then." He motioned toward her mug. "Turn your cup over, upside-down."

She followed his orders without complaint, looking to him expectantly after his request was obeyed. "What's next, Gray-sama?"

"Well, then . . ." His mind was blank for a few seconds; it had been years since had last been forced to do this with Cana. ". . . uh, you wait a minute or two for the leaves to slide around and set before you flip it over again."

"Alright."

And so he sipped leisurely on his own tea until his right shoulder seemed to burn with some invisible pain under the skin and when he glanced at it, he noticed Juvia staring at him so intensely that, jeez, she must've been what was scorching his arm.

He peered warily at her. "Are you . . . okay, Juvia?"

Her gaze averted from his as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Rolling his eyes, he turned his attention back to his drink. Juvia was so weird sometimes.

Eh, but it was a loveable kind of weird.

The water mage stood abruptly, reaching desperately for her cup. "Juvia is sure a minute is up now, Gray-sama!"

She lifted it over before he could protest, her eyes widening as she absorbed the sight of the contents in the mug for several, long seconds. She bit her lip, frowning, and he was instantly concerned with what she was looking at, despite himself. Because none of that stuff even worked, really, he was sure.

"What's up?"

She cocked her head, blue eyes squinting. "I don't see anything . . . ."

He sighed in relief; she was so daft sometimes. "Well, of course, because you don't normally read your own leaves. It's harder that way." He sounded like such a fortune-teller . . . . He gestured for her to give him the cup. Their fingers brushed again, and she blushed furiously.

He examined the insides of the milky white clay-made mug thoroughly, noticing how the greenish-black leaves were properly tossed around the sides.

He gasped, eyebrows raising.

Normally, messages were hard to decipher, difficult to spot right away, but he saw it nearly instantaneously. There, in little, shriveled pieces, was writing. _"GrUvia 4Eva!"_ it read.

He blinked at it. Because usually, when reading tea leaves, the message was never really so apparent. There were generally signs and pictures and crap . . . .

_GrUvia_. He knew only one person who referred to both him and Juvia by that horrible dub.

"_Hey, GrUvia, the master wanted you two to go on a mission together." _

"_Hey, GrUvia, can you pose in a Sorcerer Weekly pic for Jason over there?" _

"Coool_!" _

"_GrUvia, we need some _ice-cold water_ and drinks for Asuka's birthday party. Will you guys please help me with that?"_

He gritted his teeth, ignoring the inquisitive Rain Woman poking at his arm. "Mira . . . did you mess with Juvia's tea . . . ?"

_A/N: I've got so many GrUvia ideas going on in _Microsoft Word_ right now, LOL. Hopefully I can finish em all and post em later on. _

_ So go right ahead and tell me how I did on this one. This girl loves to hear all of your thoughts! XD_

_And as for the lame title, I just figured it would be the tea that Juvia was drinking. How unoriginal. *Shrugs* _


End file.
